That recent report questioning the longevity of Sony's OLED television displays apparently has done little to deter the company's headlong rush into the new technology.

The company is reportedly spending $210 million to manufacture medium to large versions of the paper-thin displays in fiscal 2009, according to Engadget. That's a big step up for the screens, which use less power and are far more flexible than plasmas or LCDs. To date the only OLED TVs actually on the market have displays that measure just 11 inches, hardly a size that can compete in a market where 42- and 50-plus inch models seem the norm.

The move comes none too soon, because Sony will need to step up production if it hopes to make a dent with OLED TVs in the near future. At the current price of $2,500 for an 11-inch screen, there's a dire need to create demand in a hypercompetitive business.

Sony also announced (at the SID conference) an OLED breakthrough in producing blues more efficiently (using less energy) which has been the biggest technical problem so far in producing larger panels. Using less energy to produce blues, presumably means the panels will last longer:

"Idemitsu and Sony today announced the achievement of 28.5% internal quantum efficiency (IQE) in deep blue fluorescent OLED devices, the world’s highest level of luminous efficiency for this technology. This ground-breaking development is a result of Idemitsu´s advanced OLED material technologies and Sony’s OLED device expertise. The use of Sony’s proprietary “Super Top Emission” OLED device technology has enabled blue color deepness exceeding NTSC standards to be achieved. With this technology significantly reducing the driving current of blue OLEDs, the most energy-intensive of the three primary RGB colors, it is expected to significantly reduce the power consumption of OLED panels, contributing to the future development of large-size OLED TVs."

They mentioned having had a previously bigger prototype. These prototypes are no where near close to being ready for prime time from what I've been told. We may see a 32 inch in the next year at a show, and possibly a 40 inch.